Do you support Customs seizing vehicles over non-payment of duty?

I support Customs seizing vehicles on the road over non-payment of duty especially at this time when the country is in recession. The only source of income for the country which is ‘oil’ has crashed hence affecting the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country profusely and the government needs to improvise in raising income for the country and one of this is through importation of cars. If Nigerians fail to pay duty, it will have effect on the economy. I feel seizures of vehicles will stand as a corrective measure to those that will always try to boycott the payment of duty.For instance, if you buy a car worth N3million and the duty to pay is like N500,000, I am sure you will not want to lose the car. This will also make car buyers to do proper documentation of duty paid to avoid harassment of any kind because failure to pay the duty fee could make you lose the vehicle.

Customs are going too extreme and need to be cautioned. Rather than seizure, they should fortify all the borders in order to reduce smuggling. If they are unable to impound vehicles at the borders, they have no business arresting vehicles in the country especially on the road. Also, they can partner with agencies that register new vehicles with a software that detects fake documents.

I do not support this policy by Customs because the present situation of the country has caused a lot of damage.People use vehicle to make ends means. If vehicles are seized from these individuals, how do they survive? There should be other way around seizing of vehicles and moreover, this policy was announced under a very short notice. It is not a welcome development for the citizens of the country.

Well, it all depends. If it is one of the ways that the government enrich her purse then it should be collected and vehicles whose owners refuse to pay should be seized.But the payment of duty should not be too high.It should be affordable, considering the number of vehicles on our roads.No matter how little the amount they are asked to pay is, it will still amount to something meaningful when summed up. Most of these vehicles we are talking about are mostly for commercial use. A means of livelihood for the owners and it will be unfair to charge them abnormally. If the payment is too high it will bounce back on the masses as transport fare from one place to the other will be on the increase.

I support the seizing of vehicles by Customs due to non-payment of duty. If a vehicle is seized, it is becauseit is illegal and has not passed through the right hands into the country. The government should make sure the seized vehicles are sold at cheaper rate or on auction to the masses.

I support Customs seizing vehicles over non-payment of duty only at the borders when the vehicles are crossing the Nigerian borders. It is very clear that Customs have failed in their responsibilities at the border already. They should rather hold the vehicle importers and dealers of these vehicles accountable at the borders. It will be very unfair to seize a vehicle from an innocent end user who spent his hard-earned money to buy a vehicle under the assumption that the Nigerian Customs has done its job and the car dealers would have included customs duty in the cost of the vehicle. I think Customs should look inwards and vet their acts right and stop inconveniencing Nigerians over their failures.

I do support them seizing it because a car is the same as every other goods imported into a country. As long as it is for non-payment of duty, and not for any extortion reasons, they should continually enforce the seizure. Importation of goods into a nation has a short term positive benefit to its economy, but a long term negative impact on the economy in terms of production, industrialization, employment, and mental development. Custom duty is the only rational compensation for these series of long term negative impact on the economy.If it is down played on, a nation will be on a dual losing end. The rich will keep getting richer because they can afford the goods from across borders and the poor get poorer because their expended energy to local production of similar goods internally, will be less preferred or patronized, causing both a waste of their energy, effort and resources.

This is absolutely wrong, how would the vehicles have gotten into the country without non-payment of this said duty. This shows how corruption has eaten deep into the country. I feel this is a way of dealing with the people and making more money for themselves all in the name of generating revenue for the country. Also, seizing will not help in ameliorating the problems in the country.

I don’t know much about ports and Customs but I believe in acting within the confine of the law. If it is a mandatory and necessary documents required for possession as vehicle particulars then it should be included.Nigerians should be well informed and not embarrassed them on the road. I feel it is the duty of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to stop a vehicle on the road and ask for the necessary documents of the car and not the duty of Customs.They have no business on the road.The borders and port areas are their call of duty and authority.

Customs should put their house in order first because there is high level of corruption in theagency.Novehicle can leave and come in through our borders without their consent. Hence, all vehicles without custom duty were evaded through some corrupt Customs officers’ aid and now they are talking about seizing vehicles because of non-payment of duty. This is absurd and unbelievable.

Yes, I am in support of it because it will be noted that nation building requires quite a lot of money and this requires a lot of hard work from all parastatals. With dwindling oil revenue, failing economy and all sorts happening in the country including deliberate invasion of tax,  the infrastructure that is constructed for usage, have to be paid forwhich I believe custom duties are used for. You cannot import goods or manufacture same and decide not to pay duties. Therefore, either on the road or by the port, Customs should do all that is needed to collect all duty fees.

No, I do not support it. Customs should rather tighten the borders and fish out the corrupt officers amongst them that allow such vehicles pass through the borders. An average innocent Nigerian buying a vehicle from a dealer does not know if the importer has paid duty on it, and this really should not be his/her business. Having in mind the fact that that is the job of Customs in the first place. Also, our roads do not need additional check points created by another parastatal. The traffic management agencies and the police are enough ‘headache’ for us in Nigeria.

 It is very wrong of them to do, what were they looking at when the vehicles pass through the border; it shows they are not doing their job and it is so annoying when I see them behaving like untamed animals on the road all in the name of trying to seize smuggled vehicle and containers. The appropriate authority should look into this agency and make a scapegoat out of them. I believe only that could bring sensitisation to Customs because corruption is all over there like a “swarm of bees”.